‘My hut has no running water but the council charged me double tax'
When Derbyshire Dales district council voted to saddle second home owners with double council tax bills, officials argued it would free up more homes for first-time buyers.
Those prospective buyers, however, likely have little appetite for a one-bedroom 1920s hutment with no running water, electricity or mains sewage system.
And yet the council saw it fit to slap owners John and Fiona Jeffrey with a double council tax bill, amounting to £3,000 a year.
Mr Jeffery, 66, and Mrs Jeffery, 63, whose main residence is in Sheffield, are outraged – not least because you would be hard-pressed to call their hutment habitable.
It is inaccessible by road and a 40-minute walk from the nearest village. Had the council wanted to inform the couple in writing about the property's new tax bill, they wouldn't have been able to send a letter because there is no postal service.
In fact, it is difficult to think of any council service that reaches their property. There is no bin collection or street lighting let alone libraries or schools. And yet, they are one of around 1,000 second home owners in the Derbyshire Dales who must now pay twice as much for these services.
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